Nigeria Content Online

Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo,
did not have a closed-door meeting nor any discussion with Dimeji
Bankole, during their “chance meeting” on Tuesday in Lagos, an aide to
Mr Obasanjo said on Wednesday.

A statement signed by Adeoba Ojekunle,
Mr. Obasanjo’s special assistant, stated that contrary to media
reports, the meeting at the Presidential Wing of Murtala Muhammed
Airport “was an inadvertent development and not a secret or
‘closed-door’ meeting.” The statement specifically referred to a
newspaper report which claimed that the former president and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives discussed behind closed-doors
at the airport.

Father-son talks

“While General Obasanjo was waiting
for a private plane to convey him to Kinshasa yesterday, June 29, 2010,
he and honourable Speaker Bankole happened to be at the Presidential
Wing of the airport together,” said Mr Ojekunle. “At the chance
meeting, the honourable speaker greeted General Obasanjo as a son would
greet his father, and General Obasanjo also responded accordingly, as a
father would greet his son. There was neither a closed-door meeting nor
discussion of any issue.

Mr. Ojekunle, however, said that the
speaker must have visited Lagos to attend a meeting, or was on another
appointment, and not necessarily to have any discussion with Mr.
Obasanjo. “General Obasanjo was not part of such meeting and the nature
of such meeting is not known to him,” he stated.

Mr. Obasanjo, who arrived at the
airport 20 minutes after the speaker landed at the VIP tarmac from
Abuja on a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft, headed straight to the
airport lounge without saying a word to journalists. Mr Bankole, who
had been in Lagos since Friday, left for Abuja on Monday only to return
at about 2.30pm on Tuesday at minutes interval to the former president
arrival too.

The duo met behind closed doors for
about 30 minutes at the presidential lounge of the Murtala Muhammed
Airport (MMA), Lagos. The meeting between the two men may not be
unconnected with Mr. Bankole’s current battle to retain his position as
the Speaker of the House, amidst allegations of financial impropriety
and contract inflation. The two men, however, refused to answer
questions about the reason for their meeting.

When confronted by aviation correspondents, Mr. Obasanjo refused to
answer any of their questions which included queries about the meeting;
his views about Ibrahim Babangida’s 2011 presidential aspirations; the
country’s 50 year anniversary; and the amount earmarked for the
celebrations; and Goodluck Jonathan’s bid for president come 2011.
Turning to his daughter, Kemi Obasanjo, the ex-president said: “They
(reporters) love my face and I love their faces.”